This was posted over at RealGm. I didn't catch hoops tonight, but this is what E. Smith apparently said:

Via RealGm

Quote:

Just caught the end of Hoops...

Eric Smith who spent the last 3 weeks in Miami said he talked to some of the most well known
plugged in American media types and some scouts who claimed Nash is down to 3 teams in
his FA pursuit.

Smith was surprised because he thought it would be bigger more like 5 teams at least...

He said he was told that it was between the Raptors, Suns & Blazers

Smith and Jack believe Toronto is the front runner. They said Portland is slightly
more competitive and is close to his home in Vancouver. They said he could choose
Phoenix because hes a loyal guy.

But both think it will ultimately be Toronto that is his choice Jack said its not about the next
3 years to him its about the next 30 years to him. Said his ties to Basketball Canada, Toronto
being the biggest market out of the 3 to grow his brand and his ties to Colangelo and Triano
will be the deciding factors.

Well i do think Triano will be all over him like a dirty shirt to come here and try to put this team back on the map. I will say this though, if Colangelo can pull off a significant trade for a SF it might place us at the front of the line.

Nash is an extremely hard worker who takes care of his body like few in the NBA. Theres a reason why he was still so damn effective despite being 38 last year.

If people really want to see Valanciunius have a good rookie year, having Nash will ensure that. Gortat got at least 60% of his buckets off of Nash pick and roll play. Nash with Bargs and Val will be a joy to watch for 2 seasons. Hopefully we get a good young backup PG as well to spell nash for 20 minutes as well.

I didnt even mention Demar either. Nash will make Demars life a whole lot easier. Demar, like Val, will gain a ton of confidence from the easy baskets he'll get and hopefully with that will also lead to rhythm with the rest of his game, including playing harder and more effectively on D.

As it isnt a proven fact, but when one is rolling and feeling good offensively, they tend to play harder defensively.

I didnt even mention Demar either. Nash will make Demars life a whole lot easier. Demar, like Val, will gain a ton of confidence from the easy baskets he'll get and hopefully with that will also lead to rhythm with the rest of his game, including playing harder and more effectively on D.

As it isnt a proven fact, but when one is rolling and feeling good offensively, they tend to play harder defensively.

I agree with this 100 percent. Look at the suns before Nash Came along. They all had career highs the year nash came, hell, they even made a commercial on that. I had no clue who marion was before nash, that tells you something.

Nash is the rare breed of point guards left in the game that not only makes your team play better with him, but also once he leaves. he turns average joes into all stars.